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The Doddershall ‘civil war gun battery’
THE HS2 HISTORIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT PROJECT
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| HS2 ROUTE MAP AT DODDERSHALL, showing the high-speed rail line (top) passing 100 metres north of the ‘gun battery’ earthworks. Later information shows that the line will come much closer. |
The possible civil-war gun battery was included in the Society's response to the HS2 Environmental
Statement in February 2014.
Click here to read
our defence of the earthworks.
The earthworks threatened by the construction of HS2 are one of eight moated sites within the Doddershall estate, which appears in
Domesday Book so dates from Anglo-Saxon times.
A survey by the Historical Monuments Commission suggested that these may be the remains of a medieval moated house. An Ordnance Survey investigator, however, preferred to map them as a gun battery from the English Civil War of 1642-9. The site is unscheduled and has never been excavated.
A field survey and documentary research by members of the society found some evidence to support either theory, though insufficient to prove either. Both theories may be correct, with a deserted moat reused as a defensive site for a 17th-century cannon.
The map issued by HS2 Limited shows the high-speed line passing 100 metres to the north of the earthworks, but later announcements indicate that the existing goods line will be retained beside HS2. This makes it more likely that construction works will destroy the site.
The survey report concludes that the earthworks are a significant heritage asset and that a full archaeological survey is essential to determine their exact historical provenance.
For full details and recommendations, see:
Earthworks at Doddershall : BAS Report 2012-04 December 2012
Doddershall ‘civil-war gun battery’ : BAS Response to the HS2 Environmental Statement - February 2014
MAP BY HS2 LIMITED.